Pages

Monday, June 11, 2007

My Profile Picture

The picture on this page was taken of me in January of this year. I was a the famed Sardi's in New York City, after spending a wonderful evening watching Mary Poppins on Broadway! This was most definitely a wonderful evening with a good friend, the most expensive food I've ever eaten in my life, a wonderful play that I would recommend to anyone, and a night filled with diabetes drama.

The morning had started out at 5 am in a suburb of Washington DC. I was visiting a friend and we got up early to catch a bus to NYC. When we got into New York we checking into our hotel & set out to explore the city. I carried a backpack loaded down with snacks, extra diabetes supplies, a map, and a camera. All day long we walked & took the subway.

I was on Park Place AND Broadway in the same day. He, he, he! Take that you Monopoly nuts!

At around 5:00 we headed back to the room to get ready for the play. We had planned our fancy outfits (as you see from the picture) and fancy make-up. We were like little girls playing dress up! But it was fun. Until I checked my blood sugar and it was 48. I still have times of hypo unawareness. This was one of those times.

Immediately I started to eat food. You all know that panic mode that we diabetics hit sometimes when we are low. We eat whatever's around and don't really think about it until we have done the worst thing....over treated.

During this time I was also getting ready for the play. We ran out of the hotel room with only about 45 minutes to catch a cab & get to the New Amsterdam Theater. During the rush & the craziness I didn't re-check my blood sugar. And I didn't bolus for all the carbs I ate to correct my low blood sugar.

For the next 3 hours I was completely enthralled by the wonderful show I was witnessing. My blood sugar levels never crossed my mind until the second half of the play when I realized I was thirsty & had a slight headache. Due to low light during the show, I couldn't see to check my blood sugar. So I waited.

When we got to Sardi's, my blood sugar was in the 400's. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that. I immediately bolused a great deal & asked for water. I must have downed 5 glasses of water before our appetizer even got there. With the sugar levels that high I also had a sick stomach. I ate very little for dinner, even though the food was delicious. I tried to eat almost no carbs, and stuck mostly to the meat & vegetables that I ordered instead.

I hated my diabetes at that moment. It had almost ruined what could have been a perfect night. Before I went to be that night I re-checked and was down to the low 200's with plenty of IOB to take care of the rest of the high blood sugar levels. But it doesn't make it any easier to swallow. The high blood sugar was completely my fault. Due to my negligence. I hope that that doesn't ever happen again, but I have to face the reality that it very well may.

My next purchase... a small keychain flashlight for taking blood sugar in the dark.

2 comments:

geosjt
said...

Don't let it get you down. These things happen. It's just one night in your entire diabetic life. Sounds like you had a great time in NYC! Just give the diabetes the finger and take care of it next time ;)